The Swordmaiden
by Dragonlordmax
Summary: A tale of a girl apprenticed to the greatest warrior of the age.


Disclaimer – I don't own Zelda or anything else that I don't own. (Yeah, I know that that's redundant.) And if, for some reason, Nintendo would like Rakumen, Valkyra, Naratik, or the storyline, I would be honored for them to take them.

Well, glad that's over with. This story is rated PG-13 for violence, and maybe some language or romance later on. Well, onto the story!

    They came, howling and screeching, out of the night. Waving blades of _iltharil_, darksteel, above their heads, the Bokoblins fell upon the village like a plague, slaying all they found, men, women, and children. The fight was half over by the time the alarm was raised.

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    Rakumen, village blacksmith, strode into the war-torn street, hefting his warhammer. Hearing a shout to his left, he spun, parried a blow with his weapon's haft, and took the offending Bokoblin's head from its shoulders with a single stroke of his powerful hammer.

    With a startled gasp, Rakumen's daughter, Valkyra, lightly stepped up to his side, a short sword held confidently in her hand. She shook her head slightly as she surveyed the carnage.

    "The town is doomed, isn't it father?"

    "Aye," her father answered solemnly. "These people are villagers, not warriors." Suddenly, a smile appeared on his face. "Except for us...."

    Valkyra smiled as a bolt of lightning revealed a hunched figure on a nearby hill, even as the rain began to fall.

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    Naratik, leader of this particular band of Bokoblins, noted the two approaching figures with glee. Maybe, this night wouldn't be so boring. As the larger of the two figures charged, Naratik snapped his dual scimitars from their sheathes. Crossing them, he caught Rakumen's hammer in the downswing. Slowly raising the weapons, he kicked the man in the gut and spun backwards. The two circled warily, and then Naratik lunged in, feinted, and rolled to the right, coming up on Rakumen's flank. With remarkable speed, his left blade knocked aside the guarding hammer and his right sliced deeply into the man's stomach. Rakumen gasped in pain, and fell backwards, his hammer slipping from his grasp. Naratik grinned, and stepped forwards for the kill.

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    Valkyra watched in horror as her father, once a captain in the Hylian Guard, was easily overcome by the skilled Bokoblin leader. As it prepared to finish Rakumen off, she let out a shriek and charged, letting her short sword lead the way.

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    Naratik spun to face the approaching Valkyra. Moving his blades like lightning, he parried a flurry of blows from her. She was good, but not good enough to harm him, or to notice the two Bokoblins sneaking up the hill behind her. They would arrive, and it would all be over....

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    Valkyra clenched her teeth in frustration as the Bokoblin leader parried yet another of her blows, and swung one of his scimitars at her head. Ducking the blow, she raised her buckler in anticipation of the coming attacks. But none came. Peeking over her shield, she saw two bolts of light soar over her head. Turning to watch them, she saw each arc perfectly, and hit two Bokoblins who had apparently been sneaking up on her. Each fell, transfixed on a gleaming arrow. Her spirit soared.

    But she had made a mistake. She was notified of it by an excruciating pain in her upper back. She tried to turn, but fell to her knees, tears forming in her eyes at the pain. She looked up to see Naratik standing over her, grinning, swords raised for the killing blow. She closed her eyes, waiting for death to take her.

    But the blow never fell. She opened her eyes to see Naratik batting at a small fairy buzzing around his head. A tall man clad in green rode, on a chocolate brown horse, down from the hilltop. He rode straight towards Naratik. As he passed, there was a flash, and a sword that had appeared in his hand cut a gleaming arc through the air. The Bokoblin leader wobbled for a several seconds, and then his head toppled from his shoulders. The tall man wheeled his horse around and rode up to Valkyra. He vaulted off the animal, landing lightly beside her

    "Are you alright?" he asked.

    "I'll manage. Is... is my father alright?" she managed to ask, through clenched teeth.

    "Rakumen? It'll take more than than a Bokoblin to put an end to him. But are you..." But she never heard the rest, because she passed out in his arms.

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Well, that's that! Please review. Constructive Criticism is welcomed, but will probably be ignored anyway. Thank you for your time.


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